posted by scott

I had a chance to chat with Josh Bennett last night.  he's just back from a two week tour of Berlin, both Western and Eastern.  josh is a very interesting guy with a good appreciation for architecture, art and culture.  One of the things we talked about is how different many European cities feel.  Josh mentioned that reduced car traffic had the effect of making the city a lot quieter.  my recollection is that the layout of many cities favors bikes and pedestrians to a much greater extent than virtually all cities here in the United States.  in Europe, vehicles seem to treat cyclists like any other form of traffic.  two things happen: the first is that if you're moving along and not taking up the whole road, they will wait for a safe place to pass and give you a wide berth.  the second is that if you're all over the road and behaving like an ass, they'll slow down and tell you so.

it seems like here, and especially in Northern Virginia, we only get the second one.  I'm not sure how this evolved and I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this in the comments.  Similarly, I'd be interested in comments on other people's experience riding abroad or riding here. 

I'm not especially active in cycling advocacy but I think that may have to change.  traffic seems to be getting worse, but what's really dramatic now is the size of cars and the urgency with which they are driven.  seeing a car passing a whole line of cyclists in the oncoming lane, around a blind turn or over a sharp rise where they clearly can't see what's coming is so common now that people don't bat an eye.  I find myself thinking about the number of seconds such a person would need to wait to pass safely versus the potentially catastrophic consequences to themselves and others of passing the cyclists at any cost.  I don't quite get the calculus that's going on that transaction, and I can't figure out how we can make things better.  you can't legislate stupidity or selfishness out of existence.